Foil: 5 Panel: 3 Column: 2 Line: 27

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. George L. Daelemans III

Throughout his 41-year career Mr. Daelemans has been one of the unsung
pioneers for the
exploration of space sciences. As a freshly minted electrical engineer working
for Grumman
Aerospace, he began his career on what is now acknowledged was the precursor
to the
Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (0A0)
series of spacecraft's.
Professional life for Mr. Daelemans and his young engineers colleagues was a
continual process
of discovery as almost every aspect of building space borne instruments and
spacecraft in the
early 60's was an exploration of the unknown. Engineers from that era laid the
technical ground
work for all the subsequent engineers who followed, and their collective
efforts formed the basis
for our nations success in space & technology dominance that this country has
come to expect.
Working for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Mr. Daelemans progressed from
the challenges
of the OAO spacecraft's to become one of the key system engineers involved
with the design of
the HST observatory and initial instrument suite. His engineering imagination
and passion was
sparked by the scientific breakthroughs and technical achievements of those
projects, often
eschewing the management career path offerings to remaining in senior
technology positions.
That is "where the fun is", he said.
Mr. Daelemans completed his career supporting a series of space science
Explorer missions
from Goddard's Explorers Program. The successful launch of the FUSE
spacecraft a few
years ago capped his long and distinguished career.
His lifelong enthusiasm for both space exploration and technological
breakthroughs proved
inspirational and infectious. Of his five children (four sons and one
daughter) the three
eldest boys work as engineers for NASA; the daughter teachers math and is
married
to an engineer who helps the scientists manage the HST operations. His
youngest
son is an engineer in the aviation electronics industry. He life's passion has
certainly
been a contribution to the nation, as well as his progeny.